MOONWALK TOURS : 05/21/17

ADIMALY gate way of MUNNAR

Adimaly is a town in the Idukki district of Kerala, India. Adimali is located on the National Highway 85 (India) connecting Kochi and Madurai, India. From Adimaly, it is only 27 kilometers to Munnar, which is a famous hill station. The waterfalls Cheeyappara and Valara are located nearby. Pepper cultivation is the main agricultural activity of this place. The Ponmudi Dam (294 meter length) was constructed in 1963 across the Panniar river, nearly 15 km southeast of Adimali, on the way to Rajakkad. Adimali is known for its proximity to munnar and natural environment. Adimaly has almost all the basic facilities like roads, educational institutions and hospitals.

The former name of the Adimali area was Mannamkandam, as the name indicates the Mannan tribe once populated the area. Other tribal groups collectively called the Muthuvan were also living in Adimali. Before 1980, the main crops under cultivation were rice as well as pepper and cardamom. Now almost 90 percent of the paddy fields have been modified for other purposes such as residential land, rubber plantations or banana fields.

History

Adimali is a relatively new town located between Kochi and Munnar. It gained its importance when the Government of Kerala allowed mass settlements of people from the neighbouring districts in the Mid 20th century. The majority of the people in area around Adimali migrated from the nearby district of Ernakulam. Since it intersects two major roads and is a popular resting point on the way to Munnar, Adimali slowly grew in size. In the last 15 years, Adimali has emerged as a major population center in the district.

Adimaly is a small town in Idukki district of Kerala state, India. It is part of Idukki township. Adimaly is located on the National Highway 49 connecting Kochi and Madurai. Munnar -a hill station- is about 30 km from Adimaly. The Cheeyappara and Valara waterfalls are located en route to Adimaly. Pepper is the major cultivation in this area. Ponmudi Dam, which is constructed across the Panniar river, is about 15 km from Adimali, on the way to Rajakkad. The dam which was built in 1963 has a length of 294 m. The places nearby to this area are Kuthirayalla, Pettimudi, and Maankulam. Pettimudi area is near to Tamil Nadu.

adimali 1974

Geography

Adimali is located in an area with several waterfalls, valleys and hills. It is known for its pepper and cardamom plantations. The area also has a few dams and adjoining man-made reservoirs.

Cheeyappara Waterfall

The rapids of Cheeyappara descend from a height of about 1000 feet, churning with force onto 13 rock slabs in the vicinity of a bridge on National Highway 49. It is one of the few waterfalls one can view from the bottom, standing so close to the water.^{[citation needed]} Next to the falls, there is a designated bathing area.

Valara Waterfall

Valara Waterfall is another 1 kilometer from Cheeyapara waterfall en route to Adimali. One of the tributaries of The Periyar River cascades steeply from the top of a hill to a depth of about 200 feet, into a gorge.

Adimali Waterfall

Adimali waterfall

Near the centre of Adimali township, an eponymous waterfall has become an attraction and landmark, accessible from the town

Climate

Adimali generally has a cool climate throughout the year, typical of the higher altitudes, though not as cold as Munnar. Temperatures rarely exceed 26 degrees and never drop below 10 degrees as it usually stays around 17-24 degrees. Though December–January are comparatively cooler than other months. Adimaly is a place with heavy rainfall mostly throughout the year and it is heaviest during the June–September season of southwest monsoon. Rains in Adimali sometimes continue for hours or even days without any dry spell, which may bring the town to a standstill. New residents frequently relocate to Adimaly, owing to its atmosphere and surroundings. This is evident considering the abrupt increase in population both within the town and nearby areas in the recent past.

Trade and commerce

Historically, this area's economy has depended heavily upon agriculture. Adimaly produces a high percentage of Kerala's total domestic production of spices and is an important spice trading center. Industry and secondary development has seen moderate growth, and does not play a pivotal role in the economy. The service sector comprises a very small section of the town's economy.

KuthirayalA

Kuthirayala is a wonderful cave ,near by Adimali. Is not a man made cave, natural, one km distance to adimaly by hill road. this cave is very related to the eminent poetry ‘chilappathikaram’,one of the ancient sangham literature. tribes believe that: Kannaki, heroin of the CHILPPATHIKARAM[story of a gallant] after destroying Madurai, she came this way when back to kodungallore. And took rest in this cave.this story is true or nor doesn’t matter, there was a road to Madurai to Kodungallore. anciant Kerala and tamilnadu connected by this road. it is still still there, but not with her glory. Kuthirayala situated on this way. When early chera’s reign. merchants from different part of tamilnadu,met at first in munnar and travelled like a convoy throu korangaatimala(near adimali),kothamangalam to the kodungallore, eminent cheras head quarter. these merchants and travelers took rest in this cave without fear of wild animal.it was a shelter for travelers

STORY

“ Most of us know about the Sanskrit epics of India Ramayana and Mahabharata. There are two Tamil works of equal importance Silappadikaaram and Manimegalai that are lesser known. These are two out of five old Tamil classics given the Tamil title Perum Kappiyangal, meaning epics. While Ramayana and Mahabharata are dated at least as long ago as mid first millennium BC, if not earlier, Silappadikaaram and Manimegalai are dated 3rd to 5th century AD. Silappadikaaram gives us a sweeping glimpse of the full story indicating what to look for in the three settings at Puhar, Madurai and Vanji cities.

The story of Silappadikaaram is simple. The heroine of the story Kannagi, the virtuous wife of Kovalan a rich merchant of Poompuhar suffers two personal misfortunes in her life. The first misfortune she pardons gracefully but to the second one she reacts forcefully and takes revenge on the offender. It is remarkable that for both these actions, her chastity (Pativrata Dharma) is the motivator. After getting married with all the pomp and glamour to her Kovalan, she soon loses him to an artful dancing courtesan. Kovalan is infatuated by Madhavi who is well versed in classical music and dance, not knowing that as a crafty courtesan she cares for his wealth rather than his love and lute-playing prowess. Kovalan loses his wealth and returns to his wife Kannagi as a prodigal husband. As a virtuous wife (Pativrata), Kannagi accepts him and offers her only remaining jewellery, a pair of anklets (Silambu) to be sold and the proceeds used for establishing new business. The couple leave to another city, Madurai the capital of Pandiyan king, escorted by a Jain nun. At Madurai, Kovalan falls into a trap of a goldsmith who had stolen the queen's gold anklet. The goldsmith incriminates Kovalan as the thief and gives away to the king. The king orders execution of Kovalan in a hasty judgement that is quickly carried out. Kannagi is shocked and enraged immensely at the injustice meted out to her beloved husband. She rushes to Pandiyan's court, accuses the king of injustice, and proves her case by breaking the silambu that was recovered from her husband. The anklet of the queen was filled with pearls and Kannagi's anklet was filled with rubies. The shock of remorse kills the king and the queen on the spot. Kannagi's rage turns to the city of Madurai and she burns it down by her spiritual powers of a chaste wife. "

Marayur:the spiritual centre for ancient Buddhist

Marayur claims to be a part of a Stone Age civilization that is as

old as 10,000 B.C It is also home to a later period of large

scale dolmen-building People migrated from Tamil Nadu to

this area when the Madurai king Thirumalainaicker was

defeated by Tippu Sultan, in the eighteenth century CE. The

migrants created five villages, being Kanthalloor, Keezhanthur,

Karayur, Marayur and Kottakudi. These villages were called the

"Anju nadu", literally meaning “five lands”

Marayur was a well developed settlement in kerala. Even

before 2000 years old .muniyaras [room of sage] indicate this

fact. some historians claim that is as a burial chambers. but its

not true. actually it was a meditation point for the Buddhist

monks.buddhist history of marayur is in associated with early

chera dynasty. Keezhanthur was the head quarters of

cheras.the they moved to karur when chegutuva’s period. We

can see many historical monuments about these era.

Sandalwood forest
Marayoor has a natural sandalwood forest with around 65,000 trees. The sandalwood of Marayoor is said to be of high quality.

There is a ‘Sandalwood Regeneration Experimental Plot’ here from where one can learn more on the fragrant tree. The State Forest Department runs a sandalwood depot here where travellers can see the processing of sandalwood. Those who still haven’t got enough to satisfy their curiosity can take a refreshing stroll in the forest, but only after taking permission from the Forest Department

Pambar River
Another interesting sight in Marayoor would be a scenic river called Pambar which flows between the villages of Marayoor and Kanthalloor. Kerala has 44 rivers and the Pambar is one of the three rivers which flow towards the east. Pambar originates in the Anamudi hills.
Watch Moods of Marayoor

Marayoor sarkara
Marayoor and the nearby Kanthalloor are famous for a special variety of solid molasses produced here. The ‘Marayoor sarkara’, as it is known in the market, is of high quality with 97 percent sugar content. Marayoor falls in the rain shadow region and the quality of the molasses is attributed to the specialty in temperature and the ph value of the earth.

Though earlier sugarcane was cultivated in around 2,500 acres, today it has shrunk to around 1,500 acres. Molasses production is a cottage industry here. Don’t forget to taste it travellers, if you have planned a visit to Marayoor. And also, if you are lucky enough to reach Marayoor in the sugarcane harvest season, you can watch how the sarkara balls are made. If you want to take home some sweet balls, there are several local outlets here.

Ezhuthupara
Ezhuthupara, located inside the Marayoor Forest Range is a prehistoric site where cave paintings can be seen. Such cave paintings have not yet been discovered in any other part of the state and the site has been declared as a protected monument by the State Archaeological Department.

The paintings here are of two types – those drawn with reddish brown soil having iron minerals in different colours and those drawn with white clay soil.